The present disclosure is related to an electrical contact assembly, and more specifically to an electrical contact assembly including canted coil springs for electrical contact applications, particularly with a reduced electrical conductive wire path.
Generally, electrical contact assemblies that use canted coil springs typically include a radially canted coil spring, a housing, and an insertion object, such as a shaft, to form an electrical connector. The radial canted coil spring for this application may be used for holding, latching, or as a locking means and may be made from a conductive material for electrical contact. The electrical conductive path between the insertion object and the housing is created by the radial canted coil spring where the spring serves as a conductor between the two mating parts. Therefore, the path that current must travel between the housing and the insertion object is through the actual wire length of the single spring coil between the insertion object and the spring and between the housing and the spring. Due to the radial spring mount configuration, the spring is mounted radially between the insertion object and the housing, such that the contact points are typically at opposite ends of a spring coil, thus the electrical conductive path is approximately half way around the spring coil.